Gaia Integrative Clinic
Rural Canada welcomes naturopathic medicine
IHP is excited to introduce the Gaia Integrative Clinic, a multi-disciplinary wellness center located in downtown Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT). Serving a relatively small ethnically diverse population of ~19 000 people, Gaia opened its doors in February 2012 and is already welcoming 150 to 175 patients through its doors each week. This is an excellent success story showcasing how a range of healthcare providers has come together within a circle of care to improve the health and wellbeing of a remote and under-serviced region of Canada
Despite a strong Aboriginal presence in Yellowknife, traditional healing methods are not commonly practiced and have been largely replaced by conventional healthcare treatment options. This motivated Naturopathic Doctor, Nicole Redvers, who was born and raised in the NWT, to bring her family back to the North after graduating from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. With a strong passion to offer Northerners different healthcare options, Nicole felt that Naturopathic Medicine’s holistic and respectful approach to healthcare could serve to bridge the gap between modern advances in medical science and more traditional forms of healing.
After receiving a federal grant and choosing a fantastic eclectic all-female team of healthcare providers, Nicole opened the Gaia Integrative Clinic and has been working to educate the public that complimentary methods of healthcare are acceptable and effective. Since it can take Northerners upwards of six to seven weeks to see their medical doctors, Gaia wanted to offer an extensive array of services to meet a variety of needs. Nicole, who is licensed as a Naturopathic Doctor in British Columbia (the NWT lacks naturopathic regulation), has advanced training in intravenous therapies and cosmetic acupuncture. She is also trained as a labor doula and is beginning her post-graduate training to become a naturopathic midwife. Dr. Carrie Lehman is a chiropractor whose additional training includes inspiral paediatrics, kinesiotaping, rock-taping, Active Release Technique, Graston Technique, clinical acupuncture, and custom orthotics. Corina Pletscher is a Registered Massage Therapist with additional training in Thai massage, myofascial release, craniosacral work, muscle energy, manual lymph drainage, trigger point therapy, deep tissue massage, and gentle relaxation. Simone Goudreau is a Life Coach, Weight Coach, and Visual Coach with additional Intuitive Eating PRO Skills training. Krystal Thompson practices Yoga therapy to help individuals achieve health and wellness through the application of yoga techniques and practices. Rhonda Miller is an Art Therapist who believes that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem and self-awareness. Olga Kovalenko, a certified massagist who focuses on deep tissue massage and aromatherapy, completes the team.
Nicole is currently in discussions with local Elders about adding a Dene Natural Healer to the team since attempts to incorporate a traditional natural healer into the hospital have thus far been unsuccessful. Gaia is hopeful and optimistic that the addition of this unique service will shed further light on traditional Aboriginal healing methods.
Gaia’s clinic occupies 1900 square feet in a renovated house in downtown Yellowknife that is conveniently located across the street from a large medical clinic. The building boasts six treatment rooms, an infrared sauna room, an intravenous therapy area, and a meeting room that can comfortably accommodate 12-16 people for a meeting or 6-8 people for a yoga class. The clinic also has a laboratory and dispensing room. Completing all on site blood draws for laboratory testing, Gaia utilizes Rocky Mountain Analytical, Metamatrix, and Doctor’s Data and most commonly requisitions IgE and IgG food analyses and comprehensive stool analyses. The dispensary consists of a wide variety of high quality nutraceuticals, botanicals, topical creams, meal shakes, food bars, and homeopathics from such companies as AOR, NFH, Seroyal, Metagenics, Thorne, Biotics, Heel, Boiron, Pascoe, Ferlow Botanicals, St. Frances Herb Farm, Signature Supplements, Nordic Naturals, Elevate Me, The Simply Bar, and Purity Professionals. Individualized formulations (i.e., demulcents) can also be compounded as per patient requirement.
Supplying the dispensary and offering lab testing to patients presents unique challenges given Gaia’s remote geographical location. For example, instead of the typical one to two day delivery time most practitioners can expect upon placing a supplement order, shipments take ten to 14 days to arrive in Yellowknife and require extra ice packs for quality preservation. Ice road closures that may occur for up to four weeks provide additional complications as they prevent road access to Yellowknife and require that supplies must be flown in. Further, biological samples must be shipped to Edmonton at a cost of $60 per sample, thereby increasing test prices significantly while laboratory testing requiring time-sensitive samples must be avoided altogether. These restrictions mean that Gaia must generally rely on the cooperation of medical physicians to requisition standard blood work. Luckily, Gaia is already developing a trusted reputation within the medical community; a number of general practitioners have been quite supportive of the new clinic and are hoping to learn more about Gaia’s services from an upcoming grand rounds presentation by Nicole at the local hospital.
Gaia offers a variety of programs to the public, including: “Body Love Yoga Therapy” and “Make Peace Mondays”. Additional naturopathic-focused programs (i.e., detoxification, weight management, and smoking cessation) are available and will eventually be expanded to include other practitioners’ expertise.
Gaia has employed minimal formal advertising. Word of mouth, advertisements on Yellowknife’s popular YKTrader.com website, and posters placed in local grocery stores have proven successful. Gaia’s practitioners have attended health and wellness fairs held by the diamond mines, which has led to the development of a positive relationship and hopes for the future of one day having on site treatments as mine employees have excellent third party health insurance. The clinic’s massage therapists have also developed relationships with local hotels to offer treatments to weekend travelers. IHP would like to thank Gaia for allowing us to highlight this highly successful clinic in a remote area of our beautiful country. We hope that this clinic profile will serve as motivation for practitioners who are anxious about opening a clinic in a small community!
